Total Solar Eclipse August 21, 2017

Where were you on February 26th, 1979? During 1979 Jimmy Carter was the 39th president of the United States, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII and McDonald’s introduced the Happy Meal. This was the most recent total solar eclipse the continental United States has experienced. Now, after a drought of nearly four decades, the United States will be treated to the Great American Eclipse. Total Eclipses are rare and very impactful events. For those who have witnessed them, it is a memory they keep forever.

During the eclipse, South Carolina Space Grant Consortium, along with others, including Montana Space Grant Consortium, was working with students to provide a live stream of the Solar Eclipse across the United States using High Altitude Balloons from over 20 different locations!  Space Grant Consortia will be working with several Space Grant Consortia, industry partners, and government partners to bring us the first ever live stream of a Solar Eclipse. This began August 21st, 2017 at 1:20 p.m. EST on the Oregon coast and ended at 2:20 p.m. EST on the South Carolina coast. For more information about the Eclipse ballooning project, please visit Montana Space Grant Consortium’s page here.